The Quarter
by starryeyedwr1ter
Summary: '"I'm sorry I bothered you," I called after him. "Must be a real pain having the vending machine right out here. People shaking it at all hours?" He stopped and looked back at me almost curiously. "Well, I don't mind when they're as cute as you." I don't know who blushed more deeply but I'd probably bet on him.' Pony romance. One shot tie in to Wealth Versus Class one shot.


**A.N: Off the back off 'Wealth Versus Class' a little back story as to how Ponyboy and Lizzy first met. **

**Hinton owns Ponyboy and company. **

The Quarter

The music started up again.

I turned my blue eyes heavenward and let out a long and laboured sigh.

Monty Gable was going to become the reason I ended up in jail.

It didnt matter how many times I asked him to keep it down, how hard I tried to explain that I needed to study, Monty would respond with a "yeah, sure babe,' before trying to drag me in to party and eventually turning down his stereo a notch or two. I knew as soon as I was back in my room with the door shut, that stereo would get cranked right back up again.

I had to move. But right now, I needed a break.

Shifting past my stack of legal textbooks, I picked up a quarter from my stash of change. I decided to wander down to the other end of the college dormitories in search of a snack. It was quieter up that way, away from the entrance- there was a vending machine here that wasn't perpetually broken like my end of the hall, and sometimes it was just nice to clear my head on the walk.

I was studying law and economics at New York University. I had known practically my whole life that this was what I wanted to do and where I wanted to study. Daddy was a litigation lawyer; he worked in the city and he and Mom lived out in the Hamptons He expected me as his only child to follow him into the legal profession, but he was a little less enthusiastic about my chosen field.

'Civil rights, Princess? There's not much money in that."

"Sure there is, Daddy." It wasn't what I wanted to say to him. What I wanted to say to him was that it wasn't about the money, that it was an area I felt passionate about. But there was no point getting him all riled up. The doctor said it wasn't good for his heart.

"Oh come on, Harry. She's going to be a lawyer. Just like you. What does it matter what type?"

Good old Mom. Passive and persuasive. Forever the peacemaker.

I slid a quarter into the vending machine and stood staring at the options behind the glass. Hopefully Monty Gable will have gone out to a party by the time I returned. Punching in a number, I waited for the machine to drop my candy bar but nothing happened. The display on the machine showed me three zeroes before I pressed the return coins button. Still nothing.

Exhaling heavily, i punched the button several times. I would have to walk all the way back to my room for more change. I slapped the glass screen in frustration and then I rattled the buttons a few more times, thinking about the essay that was due Monday and the fact that the library book I needed was still checked out from the campus library.

"Um, are you okay there?"

I jumped, mid rattle, realising that I was practically beating the crap out of the vending machine. The voice from behind me was coming from a guy stood in the doorway of his room just a few feet away. His light brown hair was tousled, he was wearing jeans and odd socks, but there was a hint of a smile on his face.

"Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry. Did I wake you?"

I was just as bad as Monty Gable, banging around out here with no consideration that I was right outside the place where people slept.

"Naw, I wasn't sleeping." His smile was cute, kinda shy and slow and I felt him give me the once over.

I knew what he was thinking. The same thing people always think when they look at me. Long red hair, big blue eyes, my mother's full red lips. He was thinking 'bimbo'. Expensive shoes, designer dress, expertly skilled in making it seem like a hell of a lot of make up was actually a natural look.

I felt irritated instantly. I knew well enough not to show it but it made me mad that because I looked the way I did people instantly assumed I was a dummy. I had to work longer and harder in my classes to show the teachers I was anything but. There were only a handful of women in my law class, and it was a well known fact that the big law firms wanted to hire males, not females. So we girls were having to work harder than ever to match up to our male classmates.

"Well, I'll-uh- keep it down, okay?" I turned back to the machine, not sure what to do now.

"Machine ate your money, huh?"

I turned around slowly this time, unable to keep the smile from my lips.

"Something like that."

He was coming out of the room now, moving towards me and giving me a chance to see just how good looking he was. His eyes were a sea green and he had amazing cheekbones. Underneath the messy hair and ripped jeans, he was movie star handsome.

When he was directly in front of me, I tilted my head to look up at him. Even in my heels I had to crane my neck to do so. He was tall and he smelled of fabric softener and faintly of marijuana.

"You mind?" That faint smile was still there and I realised that he wanted access to the machine, not me. _Yeah, real smooth, Lizzy._

I stepped aside but instead of touching the button panel like I had expected him to, the guy went to the side of the machine, flicked a switch and plunged the display panel into darkness.

I looked at him blankly and he held up one finger.

"Just give it a second, " he said reassuringly. We waited in comfortable silence before he switched the machine back on. As the display blinked back alive, he stood aside and gestured to me.

"Give it a try, now."

The screen said 025. It was now registering my quarter again. I punched in the code for my candy and widened my eyes in surprise as it dropped into the collection tray.

"That's amazing. Thank you!"

"Hey, no problem." He was already walking back towards his bedroom but I didn't want him to go.

"I'm sorry I bothered you," I called after him. "Must be a real pain having the vending machine right out here. People shaking it at all hours?"

He stopped and looked back at me almost curiously.

"Well, I don't mind when they're as cute as you."

I don't know who blushed more deeply but I'd probably bet on him.

"What's your name?" I asked him.

"Ponyboy Curtis." He seemed glad to have something to say he was sure of and i couldn't disguise the giggle that left me.

"That a nickname?"

"Naw, it's my real name. It's okay, go ahead and laugh." He didnt look offended but I instantly sobered up.

"It's a great name," I said. "I'm Elizabeth Martin. My friends call me Lizzy, though."

He put out his hand to shake mine and I tingled as his warm fingers closed around mine.

"It's good to meet you, Lizzy."

We stood there looking at each other in the hall before he said:

"So not out partying tonight?"

"No." I shook my head. "I was trying to study but the guy above me is blaring his music."

He considered this and pushed his hands into the pocket of his jeans.

"You ask him to turn it down?"

"Several times a night," I said bitterly. "And the library is crazy today. I find it hard to work with so many people bustling around."

He nodded, throwing a look towards his room and then back at me again.

"You know, my room mates gone home for the weekend. His desk is free. And I'm just doing some reading myself…" He let the offer unfold by itself and I considered going into a closed room with a guy I had just met.

Absolutely not, my mother would have said.

But for some reason, I trusted this cute boy with his lopsided grin and his sea green eyes.

"If you really don't mind, that'd be great." I told him. "I'll just have to go and get my things."

"I could come with you if you want? Help you carry them?" Despite his offer, he was blushing again. Sheesh, he was adorable.

"Thanks. I'd like that."

We talked on the walk over- he was from Tulsa, Oklahoma. His parents had died young and he had been raised by his big brother. He was studying journalism and he was at NYU on an academic scholarship. I told him about my dream of being a civil rights lawyer, that I had grown up in the Hamptons, and that I wanted to help people who hadn't been as privileged as me.

By the time we were on our way back to his room, my books filling his big strong arms, I was already a little bit in love with Ponyboy Curtis.

888


End file.
